There are no batteries in the smoke detector.
This is not a fire drill.
Stomachs across the nation dropped in unison during the final moment ofTuesdays episode ofThis Is Us.
Arelativelylighter episode tinged with romantic mystery!
concluded with Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) cozying up on the sofa.
He dropped the bomb that he wanted to pursue that long-deferred dream of starting his own construction company.
Clooney was an episode that sought to cover all sorts of ground, some of it quirky.
Then came Randalls time to surprise.
I think I told you that this was one where the impact of it sneaks up on you.
Its so easy to make a simple mistake.
Of course, looking back, we all know what that leads to, but life is hectic.
Sometimes you forget to get batteries.
Words to live by.
The implications of that scene are clear, obviously.
We are closer than ever to learning the truth about Jacks passing.
We just met the redhead.
Were not pulling any punches.
You are watching the events that lead to this mans untimely death.
Here, we see the smoke alarm that did not receive these batteries.
On several occasions, weve seen the houses circuit breaker fail.
Also, theres lots of different ways that a house can catch on fire.
Why must you be a dream killer?[Laughs.]
Were going to be empty nesters.
Why not now to dive into this passion Ive always had?
We see Jack tell the boys at the mall, You got to own your choices.
Choose them fully and dont look back.
That line seems very on-brand for Jack.
I dont think Jacks a man who wonders if he made the right choice a lot.
He picks a path and just continues down it.
Because hes supporting three kids and hes had his share of hardships, and hes all about perseverance.
But that doesnt mean that he cant sort of reassess at a certain point and make a new choice.
He says, Not really.
Then she says, Well, I guess thats going to be exciting.
Then we get the moment with Jack buying the suit with Kevin.
These are really loaded moments these emotional gut punches given that we know whats about to happen.
Should we brace for a few more of those wonderful, its-all-coming-together family moments before he passes?Yes.
Ooh, is this the last time they talk?
So we wanted to see to it that we showed some of those really powerful, wonderful father-son moments.
Its not all Kevin screaming about how Jack ignored him when he almost drowned in a swimming pool.
Questions about Miguel are answered in this episode, particularly about his love for Rebecca.
Its a 12-step process.
And then last week with the Others at the bar.
Its not hard because Jon is such a charming actor.
Nothing shady even happened in my mind.
I was such a fan of those two together and it was all on the up and up.
Its almost a little crushing to see the way Rebecca answers Kevins questions about whether shes happy with Miguel.
However, she still clings to the old one by wearing the necklace.
He has such a love and a respect and loyalty to Jack, too.
Yeah, that speech is very bittersweet.
She lost her husband when she had a lot of years left.
She was not an old woman at all.
She did find love again, but it was a different kind of love.
I dont know, I think its kind of a whatever-works situation.
And theres a lot of beauty in Rebecca and Miguels marriage too.
Its lightly devastating in a way.It is.
Even though I do believe that they truly are happy, there is a tinge of quiet devastation there.
I mean, youve got two people who lost their most important person in Jack.
In fact, she said that she missed the voice of hate.
It felt empty without it.
How would you characterize that voice inside her now?Thats an interesting question.
I think its definitely still there.
This was definitely an interesting one that was talked about in the writers room for a long time.
Does she want to lose more weight?
Is she accepting who she is?
I think its a constant battle for her.
There was a lot there.
Jacks death just takes what was already an underlying issue for her and just magnifies it.
In other news, Randall finally seems to have found his professional purpose.
Weve always known she was in urban planning, but none of us totally knew exactly what that meant.
It was sort of like a phrase we threw around, much like the weather trading last year.
So then we came up with the notion of, Remember Williams building?
Its this very tangible connection to learning more about William.
Theres animmediateand initial clashing of their attitudes.
Everything that guy says is so hilarious.
The looks he gives hell have one line in a scene, and were just on the floor laughing.
Him and a couple of other really wonderful character actors fill out this building.
Its just a really cool, new world for Randall and Beth to be in.
He read for [the role].
He was like the funniest man ever.
You could literally give him anything and he just kills.
Were you looking for a way to tie Williams legacy into Randall finding new professional purpose?
I believe Dan came up with the idea.
We knew that we had the idea for the box of Williams stuff.
He fixates, and he cant let it go.
And another romance for William seemed like the juiciest thing.
Oh no, that name, that gives it away.
Then we finally figured out Billie Holiday was the perfect one.
We also learned a lot more in this episode about Clooney the cat.
And you dont you never even really meet Clooney, you just hear about him.
People were so concerned.
Is that cat okay?
Whos watching the cat?
What happened to the cat?
So, it was always in our heads.
And the running joke was that no one had taken care of Clooney the cat.
Of course, that was not the case; that was just our little room bit.
Shes wonderful, and she did it, and thats how we got the story of Clooney the cat.
I dont want to say what it is, but next week we have another animal friend.
Pretty soon, were basically just going to become likeWishbone.
To see why Milo Ventimiglia was pained watching the fiery clue about Jacks death,click here.
